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Why Today’s SW Florida Mortgage Holders Should Breathe. This past week, after a Thanksgiving feast wherein the average American is said to have enjoyed chowing down 2,000+ calories (equivalent to 3 Whoppers), the average American is said to have either trooped off to an early bird Black Friday sale mob scene or else (more likely) settled onto the couch to behold, in tryptophan-induced stupor, either the NFL football marathon or a Thanksgiving special like When Turkeys Attack! (“home video footage plucked from real families terrorized by turkeys”). For those who waited until the actual Black Friday sales, some may have experienced moments of hesitation as they opened wallets and purses to hand over the credit cards. Certainly those who listen to the financial gurus would have had second thoughts— the basic wisdom of a debt-free lifestyle has been pounded into their consciousness. One radio expert had been exhorting everyone to shop with cash and cash only as the singular way to hold to a holiday gift-buying budget. The expert did admit that store clerks would probably suspect you of being a Mafia family member every time you pulled out your envelope stuffed with cash—but the rewards would be worth it (never mind the security issues).SW Florida mortgage holders (and soon-to-be SW Florida mortgage holders) who listened would have had to be wondering how many typical families actually succeed in following that advice. However laudable the whole idea of a no-debt-at-all lifestyle might be, you wouldn’t think it works out to be terribly practical vis-a-vis home ownership. For those of us who interact with the SW Florida mortgage industry, it certainly feels like a non-starter. But what are the actual numbers?There is statistical mumbo-jumbo galore when you try to dig into the official stats, but if you take the middle of the middle group (‘middle quintile’), the givens are as follows:• Median American family income is $67,802• After taxes, that works out to $59,000• Median American single family home costs $223,500Now, the most recent median annual American family savings is nothing like 10% (some say it’s closer to zero); but for those who could manage the 10%, even pre-tax that works out to socking away $6,780 per year. In other words, you could finally buy your median American home after saving up for (wait for it)…33 years.I’d say that should alleviate any residual guilt SW Florida mortgage holders might have felt about not living a totally debt-free existence. All the more so when you take into account the miniscule interest rate that savings accounts are currently earning (again, closer to zero than not)—as well as the historically low-interest rates being quoted for today’s SW Florida mortgages. Why Today’s SW Florida Mortgage Holders Should Breathe. You might still try the all-cash holiday shopping experiment, but probably don’t need to put off your homeownership hopes for that three decades. A better idea: give me a call to work out the real world details!

Top Posts & Pages

Taking the Housing Market’s Pulse: Just Say “Aahhhh”… Naples, Ft. Myers, Cape Coral! When you go in for your annual physical, you’re hoping for a sunny prognosis. Realtor® magazine isn’t a medical journal, but it does have a feature called “Market Pulse.” It reports on the patient’s vital signs (if you imagine the patient being […]

Why Fall in SW Florida Can be Such a Bustling Season, Naples, Ft. Myers, Bonita Springs! Probably more than any other time of year, it seems like the onset of fall in SW Florida triggers an impulse to get things done! True, there is a similar phenomenon in the spring when many an ambitious cleaning […]

FHA Mind Change is Good News for SW Florida Appraisals, Naples, Ft. Myers! It was a federal agency reversal that was startling in its effect: a change in guidance that actually clarified more than muddled! The change will directly affect SW Florida buyers and sellers because the issue will impact the cost of SW Florida […]

Beyond the Month’s SW Florida Real Estate News, Naples, Ft. Myers, Isles Of Capri! Whenever a month’s SW Florida real estate activity ends on a Friday, the number-gatherers close up shop knowing there will be a longer than usual lapse until they can be sure of the SW Florida real estate activity statistics. That creates […]

Sharing Creative Touches with Luxury SW Florida Homes, Naples, Marco Island! You can find how-to books with strategies laying out do-it-yourself strategies for transforming a property into a “luxury” home. Likewise, there are scads of online lists of imaginative touches that imply they will do the same. The idea is certainly appealing (but so is […]

Your Home’s SW Florida Listing is the Sum of Parts, Naples, Ft. Myers, Bonita Springs! The art of selling a home begins with the SW Florida listings. Much serious study is continuously given to what works best when it comes to listing language and detail, yet a good deal remains a purely creative exercise. That […]

SW Florida Borrowers See Slight Fall in Mortgage Interest Rates, Naples, Isles Of Capri, Estero! It was fairly clear that the table had been set for last week’s Federal Reserve meeting to result in a minimal rise in mortgage interest rates. Their Fed Funds rate directly influences the mortgage interest rates that banks observe. Since […]

House Hunting in SW Florida Can Offer Surprises, Naples, Marco Island, Cape Coral! When you go house hunting in SW Florida, you’re likely to share a lot of the same basic assumptions that most everybody does. Whether you have a lengthy list of hard-and-fast requirements or are in more of a “just seeing what’s out […]

Top 5 Expectations for SW Florida Real Estate Investments, Naples, Ft. Myers, Bonita Springs! If you go looking for insights from successful SW Florida real estate investors, depending on which areas they concentrate on, you could come up with a variety of takes. Despite the distinct differences that separate the commercial and residential investment spheres […]

Selling Your Home by Widening the SW Florida Customer Base, Naples, Ft. Myers, Cape Coral! Marketers for any SW Florida business want to know as much as possible about their “customer base”—the population of potential buyers who might be attracted to their product. If you are in the process of selling your SW Florida home, […]